


It’s Okay

by prosaicwonder



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Confessions, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-17 20:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13666998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosaicwonder/pseuds/prosaicwonder
Summary: After Shiro falls asleep, Keith has a few things to say.





	It’s Okay

It’s easier to get the words out when the other person is not listening, Keith thinks.

 

He’s lying on his side next to Shiro, who’s oblivious to the way Keith is watching over him with the softest expression. The two of them have slept together for years now, and yet Keith still catches himself thinking about how beautiful Shiro looks while he is asleep. In truth, it’s been a long time since Shiro’s slept this peacefully, so Keith makes sure to be as quiet as possible whenever he's lying awake beside his boyfriend.

 

Keith shifts under the covers, slowly turning towards Shiro as he feels the mattress dip beneath them. 

 

“You seem okay tonight,” he muses softly, brushing a few of the silvery white strands away from Shiro’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

 

Keith's hand finds its way around Shiro’s face until it’s cupping his cheek, his thumb stroking at the soft skin there. Shiro’s nightmares appear sporadically these days; he’s come a long way since the time he would wake up in the middle of the night, eyes wide and mouth open in mid-scream, as he’d relive moments he thought he’d already forgotten. Just as Shiro had gotten Keith to open up over the years, Keith found himself doing the same for Shiro.

 

_Are you okay?_

 

“If you are, then I’m glad.” 

 

Keith can’t help but smile helplessly then, and the hand on Shiro’s cheek slides down until it’s resting against the outline of his chest. He finds himself drawn to every part of Shiro, even while he’s asleep and unaware of what Keith is doing right now. Even though Shiro probably doesn’t feel Keith’s arms wrapping around him, turning him around before pulling him in and holding him close. 

 

“It’s okay. You’re here.” Keith’s smile doesn’t leave as he presses a kiss onto Shiro’s forehead, and for a moment he thinks that Shiro lets out a contented sigh in his sleep. “I’m here, too.”

 

He hugs Shiro close to him, silently holding back a laugh, because Keith knows that Shiro would definitely scold him if he were still awake. It’s nice, Keith thinks, that he can indulge in being clingy for once.

 

Suddenly Shiro mumbles something in his sleep as he shifts in Keith’s arms, and Keith freezes then because  _oh shit he hasn’t said this in front of Shiro yet it’s too soon he doesn’t want to make things weird but—_

 

His thoughts come to a halt as he feels Shiro’s body grow still against his own, which prompts Keith to glance down and take in the sight of his boyfriend’s sleeping face. Eyes closed, features relaxed... It seems odd, somehow, that Shiro is not taking on the responsible leader figure role for once. There’s also what appears to be a soft smile on Shiro’s lips, but Keith thinks that he may be imagining too much. Perhaps he needs to go to sleep soon, too.

 

Keith exhales in relief then (How long has he been holding his breath for, anyway?) before he‘s burying his face into the crook of Shiro’s neck. “You... have no idea how much you mean to me,” he murmurs.

 

He’s never been good with feelings, never been good at opening up to others or expressing himself, but Keith finds that Shiro never fails to bring out the best in him. Somehow, Shiro manages to understand him and get him to open up when no one else can, to the point where Keith wants to seek him out and be there for him in return. It feels natural, somehow.

 

“You’ve always been there no matter what," he continues. "I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for you.”

 

Keith pulls away slightly to look at Shiro’s face.  _Good, he’s still asleep_ , Keith thinks, because he isn’t sure what he would do if Shiro had to hear all of this. He knows that Shiro probably already knows how he feels, but they’ve both never really expressed it in this way at all.

 

Before he can think about it even further, Keith finds himself talking once again. “And I’m just...  _so glad_...  that you’re still here with me.”

 

His expression becomes tender as he cups Shiro’s face in his hands, cradling his face as if it’s the most precious and fragile object in the universe. Seeing Shiro vulnerable like this brings out the protectiveness in Keith, makes him want to hold onto Shiro for as many nights as they’d remain alive. As long as Shiro would let him.

 

“I love you.”

 

The way it spills out catches Keith by surprise: he’d thought about how he’d end up saying it many times, but he’d never thought that it would end up like this. To say those three words while Shiro’s asleep and blissfully unaware feels like a cheat move; it’s as if it doesn’t really count…

 

And even though Keith’s never really been the best at saying things like this, there’s just so much feeling and sincerity in those words that it ends up even surprising himself. Somehow, Shiro makes it so easy for Keith to express these things out loud, makes him feel magnitudes of emotions that he never thought he’d be capable of experiencing, causes a warmth to bloom in his chest and butterflies to form in the pit of his stomach whenever Shiro's around. Gives him the courage to say three simple words that could mean nothing if not said sincerely, yet the same words could also mean more than every galaxy, every constellation in every alternate reality that's ever existed.

 

 _I love you_. 

 

“So,” A kiss to Shiro’s left cheek. “So,” Another one to his other cheek. “So,” One on the scar over his nose. “Much.” 

 

And then Keith’s lips are on Shiro’s, melding together as one, warm and slow like liquid honey. He takes his time savouring the familiar sweetness while he keeps both hands firmly planted on each side of Shiro’s face; Keith briefly registers a muffled groan against his lips, and a part of him panics because  _what if Shiro really is awak_ e _and wants him to stop,_  yet he finds himself unable to pull away from everything that is Shiro. In the endless sea of darkness,  _Shiro_  is the ever-bright sun that constantly draws him in, the one who provides light and warmth whenever Keith finds himself stuck in the icy depths of the troubles of his own mind. 

 

Without Shiro, Keith thinks that he would be lost.

 

He presses in further then, parting his lips and allowing the impulsive side of him to take over. Keith misses Shiro’s mouth a few times, drags his lips over the faint stubble on Shiro’s chin, forgets that his boyfriend's supposed to be asleep as he grabs onto Shiro’s face and kisses him harder in desperation. It’s a little obscene, and it feels a bit wrong for him to be taking advantage of Shiro's sleep state like this, but something in Keith just knows that he  _needs_  to do it. He doesn't know when will be the last time he’ll ever see Shiro again. He has no idea when they’ll all be split up to go on another mission, away from everyone else he knows and loves, for another few months without contact...

 

Eventually, Keith finds himself breaking away from the kiss, and before he can let go of Shiro and pretend that nothing happened, there’s suddenly a set of metal fingers curling around one of his wrists.

 

“Keith.”

 

Shiro’s voice is rough from sleep, which makes Keith feel even worse about this whole situation. He knew that Shiro needed to rest tonight—why did he have to go and ruin everything?

 

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Keith makes a move to pull away when he’s suddenly rolled over onto his back and pulled into into a tight hug, causing him to gasp out in surprise. What seems like minutes pass by before Keith’s arms are finally, albeit hesitantly, making their way around Shiro’s back.

 

"Shiro—"

 

“Did you mean what you said?” Shiro asks him, and then the butterflies are returning tenfold. Overwhelmed, Keith turns his head to the side as he squeezes his eyes shut, trying to focus on quashing the odd fluttery feeling inside him.

 

“What are you talking about?” Keith asks in return.

 

“You know what I’m talking about.” Shiro doesn’t let go, and Keith doesn’t either. 

 

“I...” Keith takes in a breath, ignoring the way his face heats up before he speaks again. “I meant every word, Shiro.”

 

Shiro just chuckles warmly before he's pulling away to take a good look at Keith. “How long have you been saying these things while I was asleep?” he murmurs. 

 

There’s a tinge of amusement in his tone which makes Keith blush and try to turn his head away even more. However, Shiro is relentless in his teasing. “How long have you been kissing me in my sleep—"

 

“Stop!” 

 

And then Keith is giggling, cheeks burning as the heat spreads down to his belly, and it suddenly feels as if the butterflies which were trapped deep inside him have all been set free at once, bursting out of his chest in an explosion of kaleidoscopic colours. He clings on even tighter, rolls him and Shiro around on the bed until they're both nearly falling off, and then they’re both laughing openly even though they’re not supposed to even be awake or doing these sorts of things right now. Neither of themselves can bring themselves to even care, though: it’s been too long since they’ve last had a moment like this.

 

Once they’ve calmed down enough, they both flip over so that Shiro’s on his back and Keith is cuddling into his side. No matter how many times they’ve done this, Keith always feels like home. And despite everything that's happened, Shiro still manages to put together the bits and pieces of memories he has from their Earth days: warm and comforting like the golden rays of their sun. He still wants it, wants all of Keith... even if their sun is long gone and they can no longer return.

 

Shiro’s thumb strokes idly over the fabric of Keith’s T-shirt as he murmurs: “Say it again.”

 

 _I love you_.

 

He briefly hears Keith mumbling something inaudible in response. It’s not quite the answer Shiro wants, and a part of him doubts that Keith really is as tired as he makes out to be, but Shiro decides to take pity on him anyway, bringing his hand up to play with the long strands of black hair at the base of Keith’s neck. 

 

“Are you okay?” Shiro murmurs a few minutes later. By now, he's convinced that Keith has finally passed out, since he doesn’t receive a response long after he’s asked that question.

 

“It’s okay, Keith... You’re here.” 

 

A soft smile spreads across Shiro’s face as he leans down to kiss the top of Keith’s head gently. “I’m here. And I love you.” 

 

As his eyelids flutter shut, Shiro barely registers the feeling of something brushing against his neck, feather light and whisper-like, before he drifts off to sleep as well.

 

_I love you, too._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [Tumblr](http://prosaicwonder.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/prosaicwonder)


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